Frank Tudor

Frank Tudor

Francis Gwynne "Frank" Tudor (born January 29, 1866 in Williamstown , Victoria , † January 10, 1922 in Richmond ), was an Australian politician and from 1916 to 1921 chairman of the Australian Labor Party .

Early life

Tudor was born in Williamstown , Victoria on January 29, 1866, to John Llewellyn Tudor, a laborer, and Ellen Charlotte, originally Burt, both of Wales . Soon after, the family moved to Richmond, where Tudor lived his entire life.

After leaving Richmond Central State School and briefly working in a sawmill and shoe factory, Tudor moved into the felt hat industry. All over Victoria after his training he worked selling his hats. Then Tudor moved to England , where he worked in London , Birmingham , Liverpool and Manchester and married Alice Smale in 1894. In the same year his wife died, so that he went to London to become Vice President of the Felt Hatters' Union . Fanny Jane Mead became his second wife in 1897.

Like many other labor politicians, Tudor first became involved in unions and persuaded British companies to use signs to recognize that their workers were members of unions. On his return to Australia he moved to the "Victorian Trades Hall Council", of which he became president in 1900.

Political career

As a celebrity in Richmond, he won a seat in the first federal election in 1901 for the Labor Party by a large majority for the Yarra constituency. As a deacon, he angered some Protestants by demanding the Home Rule for Ireland .

So he made a name for himself and was elected as a whip , ie “whip” of his party. By 1904 he rose to the position of secretary before he was Minister of Commerce and Consumption under Prime Minister Andrew Fisher for three consecutive terms (1908–1909, 1910–1913 and 1914–1915). Even after Andrew Fisher was replaced as Prime Minister by Billy Hughes , he remained in his post as Minister for Trade and Consumption. Because of his opposition to the introduction of conscription in Australia during the First World War, he finally resigned from the Hughes government in 1916. But Hughes himself left his own government to found the Nationalist Party of Australia at the end of the same year.

Opposition leader

In November 1917, Tudor was elected chairman of the Australian Labor Party and thus also the opposition leader. Although the federal elections were lost in 1917, it was possible to avert general conscription.

In 1919, TJ Ryan, later Queensland Prime Minister, was appointed Tudor's deputy. Tudor was accused of incompetence and plans to build up Ryan as his successor, but he died suddenly in 1921. Tudor was generally not seen as a strong leader or as a great competitor for the incumbent Prime Minister Hughes, which was confirmed by the defeat in 1921. Although his health deteriorated rapidly from 1921, Tudor stayed in office at the request of his party. When he died on January 10, 1922, he was the first chairman of the Labor Party, who died during his tenure.

Web links

• Janet McCalman: Frank Tudor . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1966–2012 (English).
• Tudor - Australian Labor Party